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Photos: Hip-hop took center stage at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show

Snoop Dogg performs during halftime in Super Bowl LVI.
Snoop Dogg performs during halftime in Super Bowl LVI.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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The 2022 Super Bowl LVI halftime show was a full-fledged throwback for millennials across the City of Angels and the world. Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Snoop Dogg and surprise guest stars 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak delivered nostalgia with an early-2000s show.

The show, which came midway through the Los Angeles Rams’ hometown victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, was a proud celebration of Black L.A.

This was the first halftime show consisting entirely of rap and hip-hop artists. And only one song, Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright,” was released in the last decade.

The set for the halftime show at Super Bowl LVI, surrounded by dancers and lowrider cars.
Locals were thrilled to see a marquee of the legendary Compton dance club Eve’s After Dark, where Dr. Dre’s sound first gathered steam before turning into G-Funk.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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A woman in a white bodysuit and spangled white thigh-high boots sings onstage.
Mary J. Blige performs “No More Drama.”
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
A man in a black leather jacket behind a white console.
Dr. Dre performs “Still D.R.E.”
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
A man in a white tank top and black pants sings into a microphone.
50 Cent performs “In Da Club.”
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
A man dressed in black sings into a microphone as he walks above men holding up their clenched fists.
Kendrick Lamar performs “M.a.a.D City.”
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Mary J. Blige and 50 Cent on the Super Bowl LVI halftime show set.
For “In Da Club,” 50 Cent started out hanging upside down before descending into a mock nightclub populated by women.
(Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for Roc Nation)
A man in a black hoodie holds a microphone in one hand and holds the other up in a salute.
For Eminem’s portion of the quick-moving show, he rapped a few lines from “Forgot About Dre” before moving into “Lose Yourself,” his Oscar-winning rely-on-yourself jam.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Two men, one in black, the other in blue, sing into microphones.
Dr. Dre. left, and Snoop Dogg opened the halftime show with “The Next Episode.”
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Performers onstage holding up brooms
This year’s show was the third halftime — after the duo of Shakira and Jennifer Lopez in 2020 and the Weeknd last year — overseen by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation company.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
A man in a black hoodie and black pants kneels onstage.
Eminem finished his set by taking a knee, nodding to Colin Kaepernick’s much-discussed NFL protest from a few years ago.
(Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
Mary J. Blige and Snoop Dogg on a white stage surrounded by backup dancers.
Mary J. Blige, left, was dubbed the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul in the early ’90s.
(Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
A man in a hoodie onstage, with seated people in hoodies around him.
Eminem raises his hand as he performs.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
50 Cent started his performance hanging upside down.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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A stadium full of fans looks down at the set for the Super Bowl LVI halftime show.
Dancers perform during the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show.
(Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
A woman in white sings into a white microphone.
Mary J. Blige’s new album, “Good Morning Gorgeous,” came out last week.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Eminem wore his staple hoodie for the show.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Dancers perform in and around vintage cars.
Three vintage Chevrolet Impalas served as visual nods to lowrider culture.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Six performers stand on a stage.
Eminem, left, Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg asserted the power of hip-hop’s oldies generation on pop music’s most-watched stage.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Dr. Dre led the performance.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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